Justice still eludes Chittaranjan's family
http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/10/stories/...510500.htm
K.V. Subramanya
The Bharatiya Janata Party MLA for Bhatkal was shot dead on April 10, 1996 in his house
# Nine CBI teams have probed the murder
# No arrests have been made in the case
# CBI plea to close the case rejected by court
BANGALORE: Justice seems to be a far cry for the family of U. Chittaranjan, MLA for Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district, who was shot dead on April 10, 1996. Chittaranjan's murder was the first incident in the State where an MLA was shot dead.
Though nearly 10 years have gone by since then, the Central Bureau of Investigation, the country's apex investigation agency, which is probing the murder, has not arrested the assailants who shot the BJP MLA while he was watching television at his house in the communally sensitive Bhatkal town.
The family of Chittaranjan, which approached even the Union Home Minister seeking justice, is feeling "let down by the system and also the party which he represented."
Official sources told The Hindu that the CBI took over the case (registered as 37/9 in the Bhatkal police station) on May 27, 1996.
Over the years, nine teams from the CBI probed the murder, without success.
A year ago, the CBI sought the permission of the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court, Bhatkal, to close the case and file a "C" report, as the culprits had not been traced.
The court rejected the CBI's request to close the case after the counsel for Chittaranjan's family S. Doreraju opposed the CBI's plea and prayed the court to direct the agency to continue the investigation. But, the CBI had still not made any progress, the sources said.
Chittaranjan's son U. Rajesh Bhat said on Monday that when the BJP was in power at the Centre, he had met the then Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani twice and requested him to ensure that the CBI's hastened the probe.
Dr. Bhat, a cardiologist, said his family had been let down by the "system and also the party for which his father sacrificed his life."
Dr. Bhat said that during his conversation with Mr. Advani in February 2000, he had also mentioned that the ISI-backed terrorism was spreading to south India and "Bhatkal was the centre of the terrorism."
He claimed that the CBI officers had told him that they were not "privy" to the reports of the Justice Ramachandraiah Commission that probed Chittaranjan's murder and the Justice Kedambadi Jagannath Shetty Commission that inquired into the communal riots at Bhatkal in 1992-93, in which at least 16 people were killed.
<b>
"Though all and sundry know the contents of the reports, the State Government has officially not made the two reports public despite several pleas made by opposition parties," Dr. Bhat said.
The Justice Jagannath Shetty Commission report, which was published in a section of the press, had made a detailed mention of the ISI activities in Bhatkal taluk.
Though the J.H. Patel and S.M. Krishna governments had announced that the two reports would be discussed in the Cabinet and then placed before the State Legislature, the State Government has still kept the two reports under wraps. </b>
http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/10/stories/...510500.htm
K.V. Subramanya
The Bharatiya Janata Party MLA for Bhatkal was shot dead on April 10, 1996 in his house
# Nine CBI teams have probed the murder
# No arrests have been made in the case
# CBI plea to close the case rejected by court
BANGALORE: Justice seems to be a far cry for the family of U. Chittaranjan, MLA for Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district, who was shot dead on April 10, 1996. Chittaranjan's murder was the first incident in the State where an MLA was shot dead.
Though nearly 10 years have gone by since then, the Central Bureau of Investigation, the country's apex investigation agency, which is probing the murder, has not arrested the assailants who shot the BJP MLA while he was watching television at his house in the communally sensitive Bhatkal town.
The family of Chittaranjan, which approached even the Union Home Minister seeking justice, is feeling "let down by the system and also the party which he represented."
Official sources told The Hindu that the CBI took over the case (registered as 37/9 in the Bhatkal police station) on May 27, 1996.
Over the years, nine teams from the CBI probed the murder, without success.
A year ago, the CBI sought the permission of the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court, Bhatkal, to close the case and file a "C" report, as the culprits had not been traced.
The court rejected the CBI's request to close the case after the counsel for Chittaranjan's family S. Doreraju opposed the CBI's plea and prayed the court to direct the agency to continue the investigation. But, the CBI had still not made any progress, the sources said.
Chittaranjan's son U. Rajesh Bhat said on Monday that when the BJP was in power at the Centre, he had met the then Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani twice and requested him to ensure that the CBI's hastened the probe.
Dr. Bhat, a cardiologist, said his family had been let down by the "system and also the party for which his father sacrificed his life."
Dr. Bhat said that during his conversation with Mr. Advani in February 2000, he had also mentioned that the ISI-backed terrorism was spreading to south India and "Bhatkal was the centre of the terrorism."
He claimed that the CBI officers had told him that they were not "privy" to the reports of the Justice Ramachandraiah Commission that probed Chittaranjan's murder and the Justice Kedambadi Jagannath Shetty Commission that inquired into the communal riots at Bhatkal in 1992-93, in which at least 16 people were killed.
<b>
"Though all and sundry know the contents of the reports, the State Government has officially not made the two reports public despite several pleas made by opposition parties," Dr. Bhat said.
The Justice Jagannath Shetty Commission report, which was published in a section of the press, had made a detailed mention of the ISI activities in Bhatkal taluk.
Though the J.H. Patel and S.M. Krishna governments had announced that the two reports would be discussed in the Cabinet and then placed before the State Legislature, the State Government has still kept the two reports under wraps. </b>